Teaching Children About Thanksgiving

When it comes to teaching children about holidays, it can be very tough on a parent. Schools tend to teach about the holiday, but only at early ages, and many parents wish to teach children about certain holidays such as Thanksgiving themselves. Luckily for you, there are plenty of creative ways for you to teach your children about Thanksgiving.

Do your best to talk to your children about Thanksgiving while trying out the following strategies, perhaps trying to give them pieces of information about the story of Thanksgiving would be best. If they have any questions, don't be afraid to enlighten them on the matter of Thanksgiving tradition.

Crafts-

When it comes to children, one of the easiest ways to teach them about Thanksgiving, is by making a craft with them. If they find it fun, then that child will probably enjoy Thanksgiving tradition for years to come. Here's one simple craft that children will enjoy, it's called "Turkey Balloon". All you will need is the following.

- 1 Round Red Balloons

- Masking Tape

- 1 Oblong Yellow Balloon

- Acrylic Paint and Brushes

- Scissors and Cardboard

All it takes to finish this "Turkey Balloon" is 5 easy steps. First, you must blow up the round balloon and tie a knot at the end to form the turkey's body. Secondly, you must make the head for our new turkey friend, blow up the yellow balloon halfway so that there's an uninflated "nose" at the end, then tie a knot off the end of the yellow balloon. Then tie the uninflated red balloon to the nose to make the turkey's wattle, and continue to the next step.

Third, attach the knotted ends of the body and the head together, do this by wrapping a rubber-band around them. Fourth, you need to cut feet prints out of one piece of cardboard and then attach them to the bottom of the turkey with your masking tape. Fifth, allow your children to paint the turkey. While they're painting, it's a good idea to start talking about the traditions of Thanksgiving, or the story of course.

Visual-

If your ask your children what their favorite thing about school is, they will probably say "Gym" or "Field Trips!." Needless to say, you can use that to your advantage and take them to a field trip to teach them about the story of Thanksgiving. During the Fall, you should be able to find a pumpkin patch or a hayride of some sort fairly easy.

While on the field trip, be sure to share with your children, Thanksgiving facts that they may find interesting. For example, did you know that 1621 was the year the Pilgrims held the three day festival, that celebrated their great harvest that year. Now that event is often referred to as the first Thanksgiving.

Other then that, though it may not be visual per say, there is a number of books that teach the tradition and story of Thanksgiving. Check out Barnes and Noble or your local book store for more information on that.

Games-

One game idea to teach children about Thanksgiving, is to sit down around the dinner table and spell out T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L. When it's someones turn, they will need to name something that they themselves are thankful for, the first thing must start with "T", then "H", and so on. Another quick game is an old fanshioned version of Tag, when caught, each child must name something they are thankful for, or a Thanksgiving fact!

So there you have it, a few great way's to teach your children about Thanksgiving tradition, and the story of Thanksgiving as well. Remember there are guides all around the web that list resources and have advice for this sort of thing, a simple search on Google is all you need.

Sources-

About.com

Thanksgiving Homeschool Lesson Plan

FamilyFun